Chapter translated by Loulou.
Kaiyen called out to Etisha.
“Lady Etisha.”
For some reason, he felt like he shouldn’t be staring at her smiling face any longer.
“We should leave now.”
“Ah, yes. I’ve picked too many things. I’m sorry, Your Grace.”
“No, it’s alright. It would be nice to visit again next time.”
Kaien took out a silver coin from his pocket and calculated the price of the items Etisha had chosen. When he declined the change, the store owner was so moved that he almost cried.
“Thank you, sir! Please come again!”
Etisha’s hands were heavy as she left the store. Holding a stuffed rabbit in her arms and holding a snack basket filled with her cloud cotton candy, I felt like I had her whole world.
Etisha handed out a candy to Kaiyen.
“Your Grace, if it’s alright with you, please take this. It’s a golden candy that only comes out during the Founding Day Festival. It’s said that if you place it in your mouth and make a wish, that wish will come true.”
“……”
“I’ve already escaped from the Heinz family thanks to Your Grace, so I don’t have any wish to make. I thought this might be something you would enjoy.”
Kaiyen looked down at the golden candy Etisha was offering. The sweet was delicately wrapped in a small star-shaped package and looked more special compared to regular snacks.
“I’ll pass. Please have it, Lady Etisha.”
“Oh… Did I just do something too childish? I apologize.”
“No, that’s not it. I don’t have any wishes to make, nor do I particularly like sweets anyway.”
Kaiyen’s wish was too great to be fulfilled with just one candy anyway.
“It’s alright, please don’t worry about me and just eat it.”
“Alright then. I will…”
Etisha answered before tried to unwrap the candy packaging, but at that moment, a street vendor, who had been luring customers next to Etisha, suddenly got closer.
“Here it is! Cheap and delicious Laksen specialty dish!”
“We have a rich cream stew with a variety of mushrooms! Come this way, it will taste better!”
Because it was almost dinner time, there were more merchants on the street.
Etisha placed the candy in her basket and glanced towards the open many restaurants.
“There seem to be more people now. Most of them look like restaurants.”
While scanning the surroundings, she made eye contact with an elderly man with a knowing look. The old man, wearing a purple veil on his head and holding a crystal ball, caught her attention.
“Oh… You two lovers, come over here and I will tell you your fate.”
The old man gestured for them to come over. There was a restaurant in that direction.
It seems that one could have a meal and also get their fortune read there, making it a combination of a restaurant and a fortune-telling place.
The old man, who had been staring intently at Etisha’s face, suddenly narrowed his eyes and smiled meaningfully.
It was a mysterious smile.
“The miss over there, you are destined to go far away soon. Don’t you want to know what awaits you?”
“……what?”
How did he know?
Surprised, Etisha turned to look at Kaiyen.
The old man, who followed her movement, looked eyes with Kaiyen, and quickly bowed deeply to him.
“Sir, you don’t look like someone who should be in a place like this…”
Really. How did he know?
Kaiyen looked down at the old man and asked, “What is your name?”
“There’s no need for a noble such as yourself to know the name of a humble old man like me. I am just someone who tells fortunes in a restaurant.”
“Are you the owner of that restaurant?”
“No, I merely work there.”
Kaiyen glanced briefly at the restaurant. Seeing that it was empty and had no guests, it felt like a deserted place.
“Your Grace, would you like to go inside?” Etisha asked Kaiyen subtly.
She was curious about what the old man meant by mentioning their destinies.
“Yes, let’s go in and see.”
Kaiyen and Etisha entered the restaurant together. The signboard, leaning to one side, had ‘Blue Water Pearl’ written on it.
As they entered, the old man who had followed them inside, guided them to their seats.
“Please come this way.”
A menu was placed in front of each of them as they sat down, and without even opening it, Kaiyen said,
“I will go with the ‘meal of the day.’ What would you like to have, Lady Etisha?”
“I will have the same.”
In this restaurant, once the meal was ordered, someone would read your fortune until the dishes were served.
So, as soon as the orders were in, the old man standing in front of their table lifted the crystal ball.
“Then, let’s start with the lady’s destiny…”
At those words, the old man’s crystal ball instantly became hazy. He gazed intently into the crystal ball before speaking to Etisha in a strange, fluctuating tone as if he was singing.
“Inevitable to defy, defying fate… A bright future awaits, very so… Happiness, happiness…”
Then, he took his eyes off the crystal ball and turned to Etisha. When he spoke again, his voice had returned to a normal, ordinary tone.
“It seems that your destiny reveals challenges ahead, but in the end, you will overcome them and find happiness. So, there is no need to worry too much.”
After hearing the hopeful outcome, Etisha nodded in relief. Just then, a waiter served the Amuse-Bouche and neatly placed it on the table. As Etisha took a bite, this time the old man started reading Kaiyen’s fortune.
“Darkness, ah… It leads to, that, a pain-inducing war… A never-ending war…”
The old man’s hand holding the crystal ball trembled slightly.
Then, his complexion turned pale as if he was facing something unimaginable, intensifying the trembling of his hands.
“Loneliness, fighting, revenge, S..Such pain…”
Eventually, the crystal ball slipped from the old man’s hand and fell to the floor with a thud.
The round ball rolled on the ground and disappeared somewhere while the old man, with a dazed look as if wandering in a dream, mumbled incomprehensible words.
“A sword tearing the sky apart, the sun! Arghh, Ahhhh…!!”
“Are you okay?”
Etisha grabbed the trembling arm of the confused old man, and only then did he snap out of his trance and slumped down on the floor.
“Oh, my goodness…!”
It seemed like the old man’s legs had given out.
He was unable to properly finish Kaiyen’s fortune-telling and ended up rambling.
“I, I apologize for the inconvenience,” The old man apologized as he quickly left the shop, almost as if he were fleeing.
Surprised, Etisha picked up the fallen crystal ball and asked,
“What could he have possibly seen to react like that?”
The atmosphere felt awkward and uncomfortable for some reason.
Unlike Etisha, Kaiyen had an expressionless face without any signs of distress.
He took the crystal ball from Etisha’s hand before saying,
“It seems like it wasn’t a proper prophecy. Don’t worry about it.”
“What? How can you be so sure?”
“Such things are nothing more than mere wordplay that anyone could do. Look.”
As Kaiyen held the crystal ball in his hand, the inside of the ball clouded over, just the way it did in the old man’s hands earlier.
“It’s a tool used by charlatans.”
“Oh my God. You were right. I found it fascinating, but it was all lies in the end…”
“True prophets wouldn’t be found in a place like this. I didn’t have any high expectations from the start. Anyway, the meal is here, so let’s eat and leave.”
“Yes…Let’s do that, Your Grace.”
Etisha briefly glanced at the empty door. She could faintly see the traces of the old man’s hurried departure.
Even though, like Kaiyen said, the crystal ball and the prophecies were fake, she couldn’t shake the feeling of unease for some reason.
‘An ongoing war that hasn’t ended… Seeking revenge alone…?’
Making up such a dark story off the cuff felt too bizarre. If he truly intended to lie, wouldn’t he have just said something pleasant like he did for Etisha?
‘Could it be that the Duke is hiding some dark secret…?’
Etisha gazed at Kaiyen sitting across from her.
His black eyes, as always, were distant, making it impossible to read his thoughts, while his expression was cold, and perfect, without a single gap.
‘Even if he did, would I know about it?’
Truth be told, she didn’t know anything about Kaiyen.
Sure, she knew that he was the Duke of the North, a war hero, and a man seeking a political alliance through marriage. However, she had no idea about who Kaiyen Wendell, the man, truly was.
‘It would be nice to learn more about the Duke.’
She felt a strong desire to know what kind of man Kaiyen Wendell was, how he had lived up until now, what he usually thought about, and what he craved for….
‘I would like to know.’
The waiter reappeared and placed a steamed dish of goose meat with mussels in front of the two.
The dish, marinated with white wine and cream, looked deliciously tender.
Etisha quietly observed Kaiyen eat as he cut small pieces of meat with his knife.
Kaiyan’s dining etiquette was impeccable even in this modest restaurant. If one were to watch Kaiyan, this place would feel like a grand mansion’s dining hall.
‘Ah…’
The candlelight on the table illuminated his face; His high nose bridge, deep eyes, and unobstructed gaze that always looked toward.
He looked magnificent.
‘I see.’
For some reason, the stone that had been pressing on Etisha’s chest since the carriage ride felt lighter now. Upon closer inspection, that stone might not have been a stone at all but rather a seed of some sort.
Etisha felt as if the stone that had weighed heavily on her chest had split in half.
She could also feel a tiny, green sprout emerging from within that stone.
It was her growing affection towards Kaiyen.
‘I want to get closer to the Duke…’
When she had seen the Duke with Yudith, the stone had felt like a bothersome and heavy obstacle. But now, it was different. It felt like a precious seed holding a sprout that would grow significantly in the future.
‘I want to stay by the Duke’s side and get to know him better.’
When she had initially chosen the North, all she had thought about was running away from home. However, now she sincerely wanted to go to the North. She wanted to be with Kaiyen in that place.
It had only been a few days since she met Kaiyen, but right now, that didn’t feel important. Because this feeling was the first genuine hope Etisha had felt ever since she left the Heinz family.
It was a small sprout of hope.
After finishing her meal, Etisha wiped her mouth with a napkin.
She hadn’t eaten dessert yet, but she had something else in mind.
Etisha took out the candy she had placed in the candy basket earlier and unwrapped it.
As she put it in her mouth, the transparent droplet-like candy rolled around and pleasantly danced on Etisha’s tongue.
‘Wow, it’s really sweet. Even sweeter than I thought.’
And savoring the candy in her mouth, Etisha prayed for her small, newly born wish.
She would soon find out whether that wish came true or not.
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